Since coming to the Orioles in a prospect-for-prospect swap with the Pirates just ahead of the trade deadline, right-hander Pat Reilly has gotten his feet wet at Double-A Bowie.
Reilly threw 88 innings of 3.38 ERA ball with 108 strikeouts and 41 walks this year at High-A Greensboro in the Pittsburgh organization, then was bumped up a level once the Orioles acquired him in exchange for minor league outfielder Billy Cook.
The 6-foot-3, 208-pound right-hander has pitched twice for the Baysox so far, totaling 7.1 innings, five hits, two runs (none earned), nine strikeouts and three walks. His first outing with Bowie came on Aug. 4, not long after being traded — a bit of a whirlwind.
“I would say the first couple of hours immediately after the phone call is a little bit of shock, and it’s a little bit of panic because you realize you have a lot to do in about 24 hours to get situated and get over to the new team,” Reilly said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 8. “But after that, as soon as I got over here to Bowie, it was all just trying to get settled in, trying to understand the organization, trying to understand the philosophies and then just get comfortable with the guys, the coaching staff and the philosophy.”
Reilly, 22, features a 93-95 mph four-seam fastball and a cutter but overhauled the rest of his repertoire this past offseason, going from a traditional changeup to a splitter and a hard, tight slider to a slower, sweepier version.
In the days since reporting to Bowie, Reilly has gotten what he called a “crash course” about throwing his best pitches more often.
“At times you get so focused and caught up in winning and getting super positive results,” Reilly said. “But what I’ve realized, especially with some new philosophies, is this is the best opportunity to throw your best pitches in different counts and receive the feedback you want to get now and maybe not as the major league level. You have that opportunity to develop and throw your best stuff now to experience and get comfortable throwing it in, say, a 2-0 count that you wouldn’t throw in the past.”
Reilly has worked with catcher Silas Ardoin in each of his outings thus far, but he’ll likely get a chance to throw to Samuel Basallo and Connor Pavolony before the season ends in mid-September.
“I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with all three of the guys we have on the roster right now,” Reilly said. “It’s more than just creating a personal connection. You also have to have that experience of them understanding your arsenal, how it moves, what you’re comfortable with and obviously being on the same page with your attack plan.”
A native of Long Branch, N.J., Reilly was drafted by the Pirates in the fifth round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt. He’s not the only Commodore on the Bowie roster, either. Orioles 2023 first-round outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. just got promoted to the Baysox after hitting .267/.345/.363 with 59 steals with High-A Aberdeen.
Reilly is excited to have the speedy center fielder playing behind him again.
“Enrique and I have been talking all week,” Reilly said a few days before Bradfield’s promotion was announced. “He was one of the first people to call me after the official trade news came out last week, so I’m excited for him hopefully to get up here relatively soon and to spend some more time with him.”
For more from Reilly, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Joe Noyes